Dead Eyes
by BlackWidow2012
Summary: Alt. universe story where Katniss and Peeta never existed. One boy has his life ripped from him when his family dies in an "accident" at sea. The choices he makes will not only affect him though, but the people who love him as well. No flames please.


Author's note: This is the first story I've written on my brand spankin' new laptop that I've gotten for college! Hope you enjoy and please read and review.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games in any way possible.

**Prologue**

The waters were calm in the sea. There was a small wind, but not enough to turn the waves in the bay too choppy. Fish and other marine animals swam lazily through the warm waters since there hadn't been many predators swimming around. There was no reason for concern so none of them were. The swam slowly near the surface of the water trying to get as much warmth from the sun as they could. One particularly large fish known as a cod entered the area and, just like the rest, was swimming lazily as if it didn't have a care in the world. A few seconds after it had joined the multitude of smaller fish a small splash appeared right above the cod. Not a half-second later the cod was jerked viciously downward with blood billowing out of the wound on its side. All the other fish quickly disappeared on instinct but the cod was already dead. It slowly began to sink to the bottom with the arrow that had killed it. Before it got far enough to slip into the murky depths a large creature entered the water in a flurry of bubbles and swam quickly down to retrieve the fruit of its labors. Within a second it had grabbed the cod and in another second it was back on the surface, holding its prize above its head.

"Looks like we're eating good tonight." The boy said happily. He had medium length blond hair and eyes that held the same blue-green tint as the bay. His seventeen-year-old body was toned from years of swimming and hunting, and pale even though he spent plenty of time in the sun. He was skinnier than normal because of lack of food, but everybody was these days. Grinning to himself, he began to sidestroke his way to the shore so as to keep the fish above the water and away from any harmful bacteria that could ruin the meat before he was able to cook it. He was about one hundred and fifty yards out from the shore but he was still able to make it back to his temporary camp in three minutes.

Set up on the sand the sand was a small folding table complete with a filleting knife, scaling knife, a large leather sack, a slightly smaller leather sack, and a small foldable tripod. Next to the table was a set of clothes and a harness. Once there he put on all of this, dropped the fish onto the table, and sat down in the tripod. He picked up the scaling knife and began scraping the scales off of the large cod after pulling the arrow out. Once they were all off, he put down the knife and moved all the scales into a large pile. He then opened the small leather pouch with was already three-fourths of the way filled with other scales and swept them into it. After he reclosed the sack and put it back down he set to work with the filleting knife. He worked methodically to make sure he got all of the edible meat off of the fish. Blood and guts spilled onto the table and released a stench that made his nose wrinkle, but he continued his gory work. Once all the meat was off the fish he scooped it into the larger leather sack with contained the meat he had already gathered from the previous hunting he had been doing since the morning.

Setting the meat back down the picked up the table and walked into the water with it. Once he was knee-deep in the water he tipped the table over and dumped the gore into the sea. Once it had all slid off he dunked the table into the water to make sure all of it fluid was off so it didn't soak into the wood. If that happened he wouldn't be able to get rid of the smell no matter what he did. After a good minute of dipping the table in and out he deemed it clean enough and walked back on shore. Once he got back to the leather sacks and knives he folded up the table and tripod and put them into the specially made harness his father had once made. He picked up the two knives and slid them into sheathes right next to the twelve inch hunting knife he always kept on him. He picked up the sacks and tied them to opposite sides of the belt he was wearing.

Now that everything was secured and ready for travel he pick up the arrow and began walking to the goat path that lead up to the cliff where he had shot the cod from. With all the extra weight he was now carrying the hike up was a little more difficult but he was used to it after years of making the same trip every day. Ten minutes later he was picking up his bow and quiver and had slung them onto his back with the table and tripod. He then turned around and walked into the woods back towards his town. The trail was well known to him and he could practically walk it now with his eyes closed. It was a small game trail that lay right outside the fence that encircled the town but remained invisible as well, unless one knew where it was.

Technically it was illegal nowadays to hunt at all but the Peacekeepers here were nice and sympathetic, something very hard to come by now. Years ago a huge sea storm had blown through and wrecked most of the fishing ships that had been caught out at sea. This was a major blow to the town's economy as they were the fishing district of Panem, otherwise known as District storm hadn't fizzled out at sea like most so and had continued on towards the coast to wreck most of the ships in the docks as well. His family was lucky that they weren't out at sea when the storm hit or they would've died like those who were caught at sea. Still though, his family had never been very profitable in fishing before and with the destruction of their ship it just made things all the harder. Many who made a good profit off of fishing were able to buy another boat after a few weeks and continue on but for them it was another six months before they had another boat. Those were hard times and they very nearly starved, if it hadn't been for the Peacekeepers.

Their head Peacekeeper, Damian, had always held playful banter with the boy and when he saw the family starving he just couldn't take the sight. After he came back from his leave to the Capitol he surprised them with a hand-made recurve bow that was in very good condition. Not only that but he had given the boy lessons in hunting which the boy learned very well. Within a month he had gotten proficient enough to hunt by himself and provide for his starving family. The arrangement didn't come without a price though. A quarter of his hunt and the fish scales would go to Damian. His wife was a good seamstress and found that the scales could be used to make very beautiful clothes that would sell for a high dollar at the Capitol. This continued without uncertainty for four more months until his family was able to buy another fishing boat. Once they had that Damian was uncertain as to whether or not to let him continue hunting. After much pleading and a few weeks of meager haul from their boat Damian finally decided to let him continue hunting. This was everything that lead to him being here, walking through the woods hunting while his father, younger brother, and crew of three were out fishing.

Ever so slowly the spacing between the trees grew wider, signaling the end of the woods. Looking around he found the tree with the small scar that he had created to signal the hollowed out log he used as a hiding spot. Taking a right off the trail he carefully stepped into carefully made, foot-sized areas so as not to create another trail to his hiding spot. Once he reached the hollow log he unslung the bow and quiver and set them on the ground. He reached into the log and withdrew a waterproof oilskin that he carefully wrapped made his way back to the trail and continued back towards his town. Five minutes later he was standing before the electric fence that surrounded the town to keep dangerous wildlife out and the residents in. Unlike most towns the electric fence was constantly running. While most towns couldn't generate the power to run the fence 24/7, they were the capitol of District 4 so they had special accommodations.

As he stood before the ten-foot fence he took off the harness and untied he two sacks from his waist. Hefting them in his hands he took one last look at the top of the fence then hurled them over to the other side. He watched them sail over the fence and land with a _thud_ on the other side. Satisfied that his throw had been long enough away, he stood and waited. He was waiting for only two minutes before the he received the sign that he was waiting for. The constant _hum_ that was created from the electricity coursing through the fence suddenly stopped. Not wasting he second he jumped onto the fence and began scrambling up to the top. Once there he found the barely visible cut in the barb wire and forced it open to accommodate him. He then quickly lifted himself over the top and hung down from the other side, letting the barb wire spring back into place. Taking a quick glance down to make sure there was enough room, he let go of the fence and fell towards the ground. Once his legs hit he bent them to absorb the impact and rolled backwards to get away from the fence. No sooner had he stood up the _hum_ of electricity was back. Nodding once he picked up his gear and walked into town.

The fence had been another one of his arrangements with Damian. He would turn off the fence for one minute twice every day at specific times. If he didn't make the times then he would have to spend his day fishing with his father or have to spend the night out in the woods until the fence turned off again the next morning, no exceptions. In the beginning he had to use the positions of the shadows to tell what time it was and he had missed the window more than a few times. Now though, after years of this, the times to come and go almost came to him naturally and his internal clock had become very accurate.

A sad feeling slowly set into him as he walked through the desolate outer layer of the town. These were houses where people had once lived but were now vacated. Some of it was from the storm but most of it was because of people dying from starvation and malnutrition. Sure cases of those weren't as bad in this district as in many of the other districts, but it was still common. Even the richest districts still had to face those problems on a constant basis. Only the people living in the Capitol never had to worry about not having enough to feed their families or themselves. The only people who lived well in the districts were the careers. Since they had the best chance at ensuring a win for their district in the Games they had to be well "maintained". Only the richest districts could afford to train careers and District 4 was one of them. Truthfully it was illegal to train anyone for the Games but the Gamemakers overlook that rule seeing as it raises the excitement for the nut-job residents of the Capitol who enjoy watching teenage kids kill each other for sport.

Once again the scenery slowly began to change as the houses began to show less signs of decay and degradation as he walked. Soon signs of life began to appear and he could start to hear the voices that filled the marketplace. Seeing as it was late afternoon the market would soon begin to clear out as wives and daughters began to leave to return to their houses and cook for their returning sons and husbands who had spent the whole day fishing. He smiled as he entered the square and saw familiar faces. Many smiled back and some even waved but most were concentrated on their customers or how to lower the price of a certain item.

"Daniel!" A girl's voice called out. He looked over to the source of the call and saw his best friend, Kara, jogging towards him. She wore a big smile on her face that many people, including himself, found very contagious. She was always happy about something or other, which he considered to be a good thing. There weren't many things to be happy about n these times and everyone was always reminded about how bad things were. Her persistent smiles and happiness had a way of making you think about those things when you were around her.

"So how was the hunting?" She asked when she reached him.

"Pretty good," He responded. "I've got enough to give you guys a slab of meat too."

"Really?" She asked, astounded. The hunting was rarely that good and whenever it was he always gave them a good hunk of meat. Their family was also badly affected by the storm, but her mother was the town baker so they pulled through pretty well since many people need food after their primary source of income and food was taken from them.

"Yep. I was pretty surprised too. I still have to deliver Damian's portion to him if you want to come along."

"Sure. The day's pretty much ended for us at the bakery." She said happily.

"Alright then, let's go." He said, turning and heading for Damian's. Kara kept up right beside him at an almost uncomfortable closeness. With anyone else he would have asked them to back off or slowly try to inch away to a comfortable distance, but with Kara it was okay. He knew she had a romantic interest in him for a few years and he had politely declined her advances without actually directing it at her. He just mentioned that he wasn't really into a relationship with anyone at the moment about two years ago when she had asked if he was "into" anyone. She had gotten the message and understood that he wasn't interested but trying to be polite at the same time. It wasn't that she didn't have the looks or anything. She was definitely pretty with her mid-length dark hair, sparkling green eyes, and almost perfect body. It was just that he really wasn't interested in a relationship with anyone at the moment and still wasn't. Ever since that day she hadn't brought the subject back up, but he knew she still liked him from the fact that many good-looking guys around town had asked her out and she had politely declined them all. She was patient and just biding her time until he was ready for a relationship.

When they arrived at Damian's house he walked up the three steps and knocked on the door in a prearranged way that signaled to his wife that he was here with their portion of his hunt and the scales. They both heard the footsteps coming to the door and when it opened Damian's wife was standing there with a smile on her face.

"Hello there Daniel, Kara. How are you two today?" She asked.

"Pretty well today," Daniel said. "The hunting was really good so there's plenty of meat to go around."

"Well that just sounds wonderful. Damian is in the living room right now, waiting to see what you've managed to bag."  
"He won't be disappointed." Kara said happily as she stepped inside with Daniel. They walked through the small hallway that led into the living room where they could see Damian messing with some sort of multicolored cube-shaped puzzle. He was twisting and turning it in different ways, shaking his head, and muttering to himself as he turned it.

"What's that you've got there, Damian?" Kara asked. Damian jumped slightly at her voice. He had been so absorbed in solving the puzzle that he hadn't heard them approaching. Seeing it was them he relaxed slightly.

"It's a puzzle from the old days before Panem. Someone found one in an old box in their attic back at the Capitol and they've caught on like a plague. Almost everyone has one now and very few people have been able to solve it…and those who have were at it obsessively for days before figuring it out."

"I bet you I can solve it before you figure out your portion of my hunt." Daniel said in a cocky tone, placing the meat sack on the table in front of Damian. Damian narrowed his eyes at him and started grinning slightly.

"Really? And what do I get if you can't?" He asked.

"I don't know," Daniel said, rubbing the slight stubble on his chin. "How about a packet of cigars?"

Damian's eyes widened at the sound of this.

"And where the hell would you get one of those?" He asked.

"I found them a few weeks ago in a small cabin in an air-tight bag, so they're probably pretty fresh still."

"Interesting." Damian said. "And if you do solve this thing before I can cut my share, what do you get?"

"How about…that those little gadgets on the shelf right there?"

Damian looked over to where Daniel was pointing and saw two walkie-talkies sitting on the shelf. His eyes widened at the prospect of giving those two antiques away. They were still in working order with made them incredibly rare and valuable, but so were a pack of classic cigars that were probably still fresh.

"You're on." He said, handing over the cube to Daniel reaching for the meat sack.

"So what's the goal?" Daniel asked, taking a seat in a cushy leather chair. Kara sat next to him on the arm of the chair looking over his shoulder to watch Daniel work.

"Each side is made of nine colored squares," Damian explained. "The goal is to make it so that each of the nine squares on each side is the same color. In the end one side should be fully red, one blue, one white, and so on and so forth."

"Hmmm, interesting." Daniel said. With that final thought he began to twist and turn the cube in his hands in an attempt to make the sides on color each. Meanwhile Damian was looking over the slabs of meat Daniel had cut and was busy trying to find a way to get a slice of each type of meat on the table without cheating Daniel. No matter what anyone tried to say he was an honest man to the end and he honored his deals. By the time he had decided what cuts to make Kara had started offering instructions to Daniel in an attempt to help him win the bet.

"And…I've got my portion." Damian said with a flourish. He looked up to see Daniel and Kara looking down at the cube in a dejected manner. He saw that the cube was no closer to being finished than when he had handed it over to him.

"It looks like you've won the bet." Daniel said with a smile. He placed the cube back onto the table and grabbed his meat sack.

"That thing is pretty challenging." Kara said with a smile. "I sure wish I had one of those for the slow days at the bakery."

"Sorry, can't help you there." Damian said, picking the cube back up in his hands. "I've already got enough on my plate keeping this little arrangement of ours under wraps from the Capitol. By the way Daniel, I couldn't help but notice that this was a pretty big haul you had. Are there going to be more?"

"I wouldn't count on it." Daniel said with a smile. "This is probably the best it's going to be for a long time."

"And what about the slice of hare in that sack with a large cut all the way through it?"

"Oh that," Daniel said with raised eyebrows. "That was when I was skinning weasel with the hunting knife I found a while it back. The hare just appeared out of nowhere and I think it was just as surprised as I was because it just froze in place and we ended up staring each other down for about a minute. I didn't have time to grab the bow so I just threw the knife at it before it could recover and run away. It tied to run but I got it right in the side before it could. You can guess the rest after that."

"You got that hare by throwing a knife at it?" Damian said in a surprised tone. Even Kara had her eyes raised at the prospect of it.

"It was a lucky shot…but I have been practicing lately just in case I would ever need to know how to."

"And why would you need to know how to throw a knife?" Kara asked before Damian could even open his mouth. She may not hunt but she knew the local wildlife well enough know that they were either too fast or too big for a throwing knife to be effective.

"Traps," Daniel said. "The blade's bigger than an arrow head and doesn't take as long to aim. I can use this to set off dead-weights and nets since trip wires aren't that reliable with small game."

"You've got a point there." Damian said. "I don't want to see any of this inside the fence though."

"Of course not. If I wanted to die I'd just volunteer for the Games. At least that way I'd have a chance of making it out alive." The mood suddenly died as Daniel and Kara were each reminded that the Reaping was only a month and a half away. Damian's mood slowly died as well, but not as much as theirs. He knew the Games were a grisly event, but it was a punishment for the revolt and punishments had to be carried out at all times. If it was let up for even a moment the people would see it as a weakness and that would just lead to another war and even more deaths. To him, twenty three deaths a year were a small price to pay compared to the thousands that would die if there were another revolt.

"Well it's time you two get out of here and head to your own families. I'm sure they're waiting for you, and the food to get home." Damian said, also grabbing the small scale sack from Daniel well. "And don't worry about the Reaping; the Careers will volunteer if your names get pulled anyway."

"Yeah, you're right about that there." Kara said with a smile. "I guess that's just another advantage of having Careers."

"Thanks for the mind buster." Daniel said, making his way towards the hallway and the door."

"No problem, Daniel. Make sure you take care of yourself."

"Don't worry Damian. If he doesn't I'll make sure he does." Kara said with a sly wink that only he could see. He chuckled as he watched her walk away with him. Daniel hadn't caught the undertone and had just written it off as a casual jest. He wondered how that boy wouldn't want to be in a relationship when a girl like Kara was interested in him. He shook his head, turned around, and closed the door as he went back to start on the cube puzzle again.

"So how long do you think you'll have to keep hunting?" Kara asked him.

"I don't know." Daniel said. "Probably until a whole army of fish swamp my father's boat and jump into the net. Even then I'll probably keep hunting though; it's just so familiar now that I don't think I'll ever truly give it up."

"Well, in that case, maybe you should take me out hunting with you some time."

"I don't know, Kara. I don't think you can handle the drawback weight of the bow."

"I think you'll be surprised by what I can handle." Kara said playfully. They both laughed at the joke and walked on towards her house so he could deliver a good piece of meat. Little did they know it could possibly be the last laugh they would ever share together.


End file.
